


Pray That Something Picks Me Up

by misaffection



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-28
Updated: 2013-07-28
Packaged: 2017-12-21 15:57:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/902132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misaffection/pseuds/misaffection
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After McKay goes missing on a mission, Cadman defies orders to rescue him.</p><p>Originally posted Dec 7th 2006.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pray That Something Picks Me Up

Laura stood on the frozen plain and scanned the bleak wasteland with her binoculars. The puddle jumper she'd taken sat behind her and she could hear Sheppard's voice commanding her, angry and worried by turn; “Cadman? Cadman, come in.”

She still ignored it, as she had since she'd taken the jumper. She knew what she'd done; gone AWOL, defied a direct order. She was looking at a court martial and would lose not just her place on Atlantis, but her career with the marines. Right now she didn't right care.

Because somewhere on this barren rock was Rodney McKay.

He'd vanished whilst on a mission with Sheppard and no amount of coming him or the efforts of Zelenka to run a diagnosis on the DHD had resulted in an answer. The Daedalus had gone to that world, scanning the area for Wraith. Doctor Weir had contacted Layton of the Genii to find out if they'd heard anything. Neither action had brought a result.

Sheppard had led the discussion of what they were to do next. A lack of leads meant nobody was really sure. Laura had bitten her lip and said nothing. The sick feeling she'd got when Sheppard's team had returned Rodney-less had spread through her.

Numb and afraid for him, when the Stargate had lit up and then died, she'd known and hadn't hesitated to question her need to go. To find him.

“We don't even know if it was him, Cadman,” Sheppard had said. They'd traced the signal to a planet that they'd visited and then ignored, the lifeless planet of little interest to them.

“We didn't receive any GDO signal,” Sheppard had added. It hadn't helped that no matter what order that dialled the symbols in, no wormhole could be established. But Laura had seen where the planet was and it could be reached by puddle jumper. Not that that plan had gone down any better.

“It's a full days travel into a situation we know nothing about,” Weir explained. “We can't afford to send a team on what is likely to be a wild goose chase.”

Canadian goose, Laura thought with a wry smile. She hit the button on her comm.

“McKay? McKay are you here?”

She was answered by static and another scan of the area still revealed nothing. There was no evidence anyone was here, or had been lately. Yet Laura still stood there. Her gut feeling was that the Stargate had lit up for a reason. This was the planet that had connected, however briefly, and if this place was lifeless then who the hell knew Atlantis' address?

But where was the Stargate here? That was the question Laura was trying to find the answer to. Because find the 'gate and she was ninety-nine percent certain of finding Rodney.

* * *

How Rodney had gotten away from the sole Wraith on the planet he wasn't entirely sure. He remembered running like all the hounds of hell were after him (and he wasn't far wrong) and then reaching the Stargate. He'd lost his radio and GDO and facing death by Wraith or, death by hitting the gate shield, Rodney had invented a third option and dialled a sequence at random.

Finding himself on a planet rather than floating in space had been a pleasant surprise, along with the fact that the planet had a breathable atmosphere. He wondered what the odds on that were, until he remembered he still had two major problems; he had no GDO and no radio. He could dial Atlantis but without the GDO the shield would remain up and without the radio he had no way of telling them it was him. Which effectively marooned him here.

So he pulled himself up from the ground where he'd landed after literally throwing himself through the 'gate and pain lanced up his leg. It felt like something serious, which was one more reason to get home, and he managed to stumble to the DHD. If he dialled Atlantis, they'd work it out. Wouldn't they? Yeah, yes they would. He had to believe they would.

The pain was intense but Rodney forced himself to concentrate on the symbols in front of him. He pressed seven of them, the code to Atlantis, like dialling a phone number. The Stargate lit up and then the event horizon mushroomed out.

Figure it out, he thought silently at the shimmering puddle. Come on, it's me. Honestly it- His thoughts were halted as the puddle evaporated.

“No!” he cried uselessly. He redialled but it was no good; the 'gate was dead. He stared down at his hands, bracing himself upright, at the DHD beneath. He knew without looking that the crystals were depleted, that his only way of contacting Atlantis had been lost. All he could hope was that they got the message and that they could still 'gate to the planet.

* * *

Laura sat in the pilot's seat and ran another scan of the planet. It still didn't pick up anything and she was getting annoyed. This place had connected with Atlantis, she knew it had. So where was the 'gate? Why wasn't the scanner showing it?

She thought back to when the Stargate had lit up, the way it had died and beginning to suspect something a little disconcerting. The signal hadn't timed out, it had failed, and she knew only two reasons why that would be; either the DHD was faulty or the 'gate had been destroyed.

Scrambling out of the chair, Laura headed back outside. The sky was a pale, cloudless blue, with no sign of smoke. A sigh of relief escaped her; a lack of smoke meant that the latter was unlikely. But with the DHD dead, the jumper's scanner would never find it. She was on her own.

“Okay, Rodney,” she murmured. “Where are you?”

There was one chance, small but still worth it. She went back into the jumper and ran another scan, this time hunting for life signs. She waited, tapping the fingers of one hand on the control. Then a faint dot appeared on the HUD. Laura sat forward. The screen changed, zooming into the area. The dot became clearer, pulsing slightly.

“There are you.”

* * *

Rodney spent the rest of the day trying to fix the DHD, to no avail. He gave up when the setting sun meant he could no longer see. If he thought it was cold during the day, he re-evaluated that night. He was honestly surprised to wake up and find he hadn't frozen to death.

The only thing not feeling cold was his leg and that was because it didn't feel anything. The numbness was worse than the pain had been and it took him forever just to sit up. Rodney went through his backpack; he only had a few powerbars left and then... then nothing and he would starve.

He'd been hearing the noise for a while before it penetrated into his consciousness. Rodney looked up.

Against the pale sky he could just make out a dark dot, moving rapidly. A ship, but not just a ship – a puddle jumper. The despair he'd felt a moment ago vanished as he watched it arc round, then slip down through the air. He lost sight before it landed but the knowledge that the message had gotten through, that someone had come for him made him grin.

Rodney hauled himself to his feet. It hurt like hell but he fixed the direction the jumper had gone in his head and began to walk.

One step after another, he forced his cold and aching body. Agony became all he knew, until he was so used to it, he became numb. He grew hungry but didn't stop, knowing that if he did he'd never start up again.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been walking, nor how far he'd gotten, when his leg finally gave up. He crashed to the ground, too exhausted even to cry out at the pain that burned in his legs and back. The ground was cold and hard. He lay still, breathing slowly, and then rolled onto his back.

Staring up at the clear sky, Rodney could do nothing more than hope and pray whomever had come found him soon...

* * *

The jumper flew through the air. Laura's gaze was on the small dot that she hoped to hell was Rodney. He'd been gone a day when she'd flown out, would have been on his own here another night on top of that. She knew he would be low on food and very, very cold. She knew she needed to get to him as quickly as she could.

Finally beyond the display of the HUD, she saw a figure. The brief flash of joy evaporated when she realised he was lying on the ground.

“Crap,” she swore and swung the jumper out of the sky, heading towards him.

It couldn't land fast enough for her and the moment it touched the earth, Laura was out of the seat and activating the rear hatch.

“Rodney!” she shouted as she raced the few yards to where he lay. He was still breathing, but when she touched his face she found his skin was like ice. “Rodney?”

There was a faint groan and his eyes flickered open. He focused on her and gave her a wan smile.

“Knew you'd find me,” he said, his voice little more than a whisper.

“I knew I would too,” she replied, sliding a hand under his shoulders and helping him sit up. “Come on; I've come to take you home.”


End file.
